Ant trap



J. D. SCHH/NER.

ANT TRAP.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. I, 1920.

Patented Au. l, 1922.

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wh/Iwan J. D. SCRIVNER.

ANT TRAP.

APPLICATION man MAR. 1. 1920. 1' 24249596. Patented Aug. 1, 1922.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 1, i922.

Application filed March 1, v1920. Serial 1\To. 362,503.

To all Lo/tom t may concern.'

Be it known that i, JEFFERSON Davis SoRivNEn, a citizen of the United States, re-

siding at San Benito, in the county of Caineron and State of Texas, have invented certain new and vuseful Improvements in Ant rlraps; and I do declare the following to bea full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the saine.v

This invention relates to improvements in insect traps and it has moreparticular reference to an ant trap. 1

It is well known that certain sections of this countr are infested with Great uan-l t) tities of fruit and leaf eating ants, commonly known as cutting ants, and it has long been desired by people annoyed by these' pests, to find some effective method of deuseless and the employment of powder and other insect destroying liquids has proven to be disastrous to the plants andv fruit trees upon which these articles are spread.

It is therefore the primary object of this invention to provide a simple and effective means for entrapping such insects and destroying them, a method which overcomes,

to a great extent, the disadvantages abovel a t walls rising upward from a base. When the mentioned:

Another object of the invention is to provide a trap for the above mentioned pur-l pose which has means associated therewith for automatically draining the same of rain water, the drain being of such construction that it will prevent the escape of any intrap, a lield trap, or a tree trap, thatr is,`l

in the house it may be placed beneath furniture legs; in t-he field, it may be einbedded in the ground; and when used as a tree trap, it may be secured around the trunk of a tree. Y i

ther objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

Figure l is a top plan view of a trap constructed in accordance with my invention.

Figure 2 is a central sectional view thereof taken on the plane of the line 2 2 of Fig. l

.Figure 3 is a top plan lview of a modified form of the trap.

Figure 4 is 'an elevation of the trap shown f in Fig. 3. p

Figure 5 is a central section view thereof, taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 3.

Figure 6 is a view like Fig. 5 disclosing another form of the invention. f

In Figs. l and 2 of the drawing, wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown one embodiment of my invention, the numeral l indicates a circular trough which is provided with a central opening 2 therein adapted to be placed over the mouth of an ant hill, whereby the ants, coming out of, or going to, their holes will be trapped therein.

rlfhe trough includes a channel-'shaped base 3, the bottom 3il of which isA substantially fiat and horizontal, and the walls 8b of which are upwardly and outwardly inclined. `doldered or otherwise secured to the upper edges of the walls 8b of the base 3 are the ring-like members 4 which completes the trough. Hence, it will be seen that the trough constitutes inner and outer spaced ants get into the trough they cannot escape therefrom because of the inwardly and downwardly curved flanges 5 carried by the ring-like members 4i. 0f course, whenthe trough is in the ground, as shown, rain is very likely to fill it up, and l desire .to prevent this as much as possible. To this end l provide aA drainor outlet pipe 6 at the base 3 of the trough and l close this pipe by means of a plug 7 of any suitable porous material. .lt is therefore obvious that the water will automaticallyrun out of the trough, but the ants or other insects will not escape through this passage. l desire` particularly to emphasize this feature because a trap of this type would naturally become iilled with water during the rainy weather, and if there were no means to permit the water to pass out, and yet retain the insects therein, it would be necessary to remove the trap from the ground before it could be emptied. It too, might otherwise overflow and the water would carry the ants with it, maybe notl entirely destroying' them. In the part of the country where this type of trap is to be used most, the ants are quite large and very disastrous to the life of plants andv fruit trees,.being commonly known as cutting ants and it is essential that they be entirely destroyed. A trap constructed in accordance with my invention will insure effect-ive results. Another feature that I desire to call attention to, is the fact that the flanges 5 are inwardly and downwardly curved. .This feature is advantageous in that lants coming up through the ground at the opening 2 of the Itrough will easily and more readily tumble over the downwardly curved flanges than if the latter were straight or flat.V The flanges are to be narrow and abruptly curved downwardly so as to prevent the ants from getting back to a point of safety when once on this flange. This flange also serves to prevent the ants from vclimbing up the walls of the trough and escaping, as

' is obvious. y

l In using this form of trap, it is embedded in the ground over themouth of an ant hill and ants either coming out of their holes or goingl to their holes will be trapped therein in the manner already set forth.

In Figs. 3 to 5 `inclusive I have shown a yslightly different form of trap. This trap is to be vused as a tree trap, being ofsuch construction that it may be placed around the trunk of a tree to catch the ants climbing either up or down. The trap disclosed in the aforesaid figures of the drawings is constructed in the same manner as the one already described. Briefly described, it

kcomprises a channel-shaped base 3d, which in turn includes a flat horizontal bottom 3G and upwardly and outwardly directed spaced walls 3f which are permanently secured to the bottom. This .form of the invention alsov includes the ring-like members la which carries the inwardly and downwardly curved flanges 5a. An outlet pipe 6a communicates with the base, serving as the drain. So far, the construction of this form of trap is identical with the form shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The difference between the two resides in the fact that this form of trap, instead of being made in the form of a unitary structure, is made so that it includes two semicircular half-sections 8 and 9 and each section has one of its ends reduced in size, such as for example the section 8 lhas its end 1() reduced, while the other section has one of its ends reduced as shown at 11. This conv struction, permits the ends of the two sections to be brought together in a telescopic manner, the reduced end 10 fitting into one ,end of the section 9, while the reduced end 11 of the latter lfits into the non-reduced `end of thesecton 8 in the mannershown. 'An

effective kjoining of the sections .is-obtained .by constructing the, sections inzthis'way and no escape of the ants from these points.

Suitable means will be employed to hold the sections together.` To this end I desire to provide the section 9 with pivoted hooks 12 and I provide the section 8 with eyes 13 with which the hooks may co-operate to hold the sections together. Escape of water from this trap will ybe permitted by the outlet 6El which, like the `outlet 6, will have a porous plug Yalplaced therein. As before stated, this type of trap is to be used to entrapy insects therein which would .otherwise climb up and down the trunk of a tree.

It is obvious that when itis desired to make use of the same, it is only necessary to place the semi-circular sections 8 and 9 about the tree, trunk, whereupon the hooks 12 may be brought to operative position to retain the trap in position.

vvIn order to makeuse of my trap in a house, I contemplate changing the construction slightly. Thisl change is clearly illustrated in Fig.v 6, wherein I have shown the trap including a `flat, circular, solid bottom 14 from the outer edge ofwhich an endless wall 15 rises. A second wall k16 rises from the bottom at a point spaced from the first named wall and each of the walls carry inwardly and downwardly curved flanges 17. The outer wall 15'is provided with an outlet 18, which, when in use is usually closed by means of a plug`-19 of suitable material.

In the majority of cases this plug will necessarily have to be made of non-porous materiahthat is when the trap is usedin the house. On the other hand, when it is Vused out'of doors a plug of porous material. will be used so as to permit the escapeof surplus water, as in the manner already def scribed. For instance, when the trap is used in the house, a quantity of exterminatingliquid will be placed therein, and of course it is desired to prevent this from accidentally flowing out, so, in this instance a non-porous plug will bey used, while when the trap is exposed to the rain a plug of porous material will be used to permit ready escape of the waterwithout permitting the escape'ofv the insects. is adapted to receive the lower end of atable leg or the like so as to prevent insects from climbing up thelegs as they usually do.

From the foregoing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, it is believedl that thefeatures and manner in which my traps are used is clear, therefore, `further detailed description is deemed unnecessary.

I am well aware of the f act that similar devices have been patented, but I believethat none of such devices possess all the advantages ofmy tra Insect traps of, the above construction are i130 It is obvious that this type of trapv simple and effective, strong, durable and inexpensive to manufacture, and have been tried out and have proven to be successful.

It is to be understood that the forms of my invention herein shovvn and described are to be taken as preferred forms of the same, and that various minor changes in the shape, size, and arrangement of parts may be resorted to Without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope ofthe subjoined claim.

claim:

An ant trap comprising an annular trough provided With spaced inner and outer vertical sides between which the ants are confined, said sides being provided at their upper edges with means to prevent the ants from climbing up the inner faces thereof and escaping, a drain pipe connected to the outer side of the trough adjacent the bottom thereof, and a porous plug arranged in said drain pipe for permitting Water in the trough to continuously discharge therefrom Without permitting escape of the ants.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

JEFFERSON DAVIS SCRIVNER. 

